By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Nigeria said Thursday it doesn't need foreign troops on its soil to crush the Boko Haram insurgency in its northeast, asking instead for the United Nations to assist with rehabilitating towns and persons displaced in the region.
"President Goodluck Jonathan Thursday in Abuja urged the United Nations to focus more on helping Nigeria with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of persons and communities affected by terrorism in northern Nigeria rather than deploying an international force to the country," presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said in a statement.
Abati said the outgoing president made the comment during a meeting with Special Representatives of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and Central Africa Mohammed Ibn Chambas and Abdoulaye Bathily.
"President Jonathan expressed the view that UN intervention in Nigeria should not be based on Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which relates to military enforcement of peace, but on Chapter 8," according to Abati.
"The President said that the provisions of Chapter 8 of the UN Charter, which recognizes the role of regional bodies such as the African Union in working with the United Nations for the promotion of peace and security, were robust enough to tackle insurgency in Nigeria and other African countries."
The spokesman quoted the president as saying that the army had already liberated most of the towns earlier occupied by Boko Haram and would soon recapture the militants' stronghold in the Sambisa Forest.
"President Jonathan also told the UN envoys that with the cooperation of neighboring countries, the Nigerian military had already regained most of the territories seized by Boko Haram in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states, and had now commenced a final push to take the last stronghold of the insurgents in Sambisa Forest," the statement added.
The statement, meanwhile, quoted Chambas as hailing the president for his "statesmanship" following the presidential poll which Jonathan lost to his rival Muhammadu Buhari.
"We are hoping that other African countries who are holding elections this year will learn from the good example of Nigeria," the statement added.
Chambas told the Nigerian leader that the UN team was visiting countries affected by the Boko Haram insurgency including Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
"(Chambas) reaffirmed the UN’s readiness to support the ongoing effort by Nigeria and other countries in West and Central Africa to end terrorist attacks against their citizens," the statement stated.
Nigeria has fought a six year insurgency in the northeast, where Boko Haram militants have killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
